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Sunday Buffet

Teresa Taylor

Mic Smith
The Post and Courier

Barbecued Salmon at Grill 225’s Sunday brunch.

Brunch is a happy marriage of breakfast and lunch, with the "lunch" part being more like dinner when eating out, especially when the setup is a buffet.

A good brunch buffet should be about the variety, quality and freshness of the dishes, not the amount of food one can eat. It's an opportunity to taste and enjoy and, when the day is Sunday, take a relaxing stroll over the culinary bridge between morning and afternoon.

Charleston Bistro

2467 Savannah Highway, West Ashley

852-9600

www.charlestonbistro.com

$

Good food that's neither plain nor pretentious and a welcoming staff is $10 well-spent for the Sunday brunch buffet at Charleston Bistro. You just have to know how to get there.

The building off Savannah Highway long has been home to a restaurant — Pete's for many years — but it's somewhat of an odd environment for a dining spot. The V-shaped commerce center's mix of tenants, including automotive supply shops, presents more of an industrial than a retail face.

Inside, however, Charleston Bistro is spic 'n' span and ready to surprise with a bit of panache that contradicts the exterior.

Homemade sausage with sage, savory home fries with thyme and soft, billowy scrambled eggs aim to please the breakfast lover. Fresh yellow squash, chunks of tender ham, Lowcountry red rice and cornbread will hit the spot with fans of a country Sunday dinner. Sweet shrimp, lightly and expertly fried, are as addictive as popcorn. Everything is hot and fresh.

Sirloin steak pieces with grilled peppers and onions on the side, and a tangy-creamy tomato-and-cheese Southwest chicken rounded out the entrees on this particular Sunday. A salad bar also offers spring mix and romaine lettuces with various add-ins.

Desserts are extra. That's OK, given how easy it is not to allow room. The trio of the day, all house-made, included sour cherry pie, banana pudding and triple chocolate cake.

Chef-owner Mike Pappas trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. The food shows it when it should but doesn't put on airs.

Grill 225

Market Pavilion Hotel, 225 East Bay St., downtown

266-4222

www.grill225.com

$$$$$

Sundays are different things to different people. If your idea is one of leisure and pampering with a dash of decadence, then treat yourself to the Champagne brunch at Grill 225.

It's not a cheap indulgence. The restaurant recently raised the price from $29 to $39 for adults (the cost for children remains unchanged), but that includes glasses of bubbly and a remarkable selection of food choices, many more dinner-like than lunch fare. A wait staff also tends to your needs.

For the breakfast-minded, there's an omelet station, grits, sausage and a creme brulee-infused French toast with a fresh fruit compote. Don't miss the wonderfully salty (but not overly) country ham at the carving station, either.

Salads and starters include a mesclun station and chilled seafood such as oysters on the half shell and blue crab claws.

Entrees on the buffet change with the season, but always will include a poultry and fish dish. On our visit, fruits of the sea included mussels and clams in a scrumptious roasted red pepper sauce, so good we could've sucked it through a straw. Blackened grouper with a black-eyed pea and mango salsa made a delicious duet, as did the chicken cordon bleu over green beans.

The marinated prime beef flank steak at the carving station, a fixture of the buffet, is the piece de resistance for beef lovers. It's juicy and delectable, with or without the wild mushroom gravy.

Desserts, made in-house, include a selection of tarts, pies, cakes and fresh breads. If you can get the blackberry pie, your day will be complete. Go home and take a nap; you'll need one.